After being exposed by the Panama Papers, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson chose to step down. A similar fate befell Spain's Industry, Energy and Tourism Minister Jos Manuel Soria, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has been forced to release his tax returns in the face of public protest.

JAKARTA Governor Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama says no one can manipulate his leadership. The pledge was made after the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) slapped a travel ban on staff member Sunny Tanuwidjaja for allegedly bribing a Jakarta lawmaker from the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, Mohamad Sanusi, in relation to the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.

'TO hit with someone else's hand'.

THE emergence of app-based taxis has aroused the ire of conventional taxi companies. On March 22, hundreds of taxi drivers under the Association of Land Transport Drivers (Organda) held a demonstration in Jakarta. The rally triggered huge traffic jams and turned violent in several locations.

RELIGIOUS issues typically color the public's discussion of politics prior to an election. When Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama ran as Joko Widodo's running mate for the Jakarta governorship in 2013, for example, his Christian identity in Muslim-majority Jakarta was invoked in attempts to discredit his candidacy. The strategy is common nationwide.

BASUKI Tjahaja Purnama, popularly called Ahok, decided to run as an independent candidate in next year's Jakarta gubernatorial election, and his decision has been met with excitement. Two weeks ago, after he named financial and regional asset management chief Heru Budi Hartono as his running mate, the support he received through Teman Ahokhis primary volunteer organizationgrew even greater.